Golan settlements: Israel seeking to ‘expand borders’

Turkey yesterday denounced an Israeli plan to double the population living in the occupied and annexed Golan Heights as a bid to "expand its borders".

"This decision is a new stage in Israel's goal of expanding its borders through occupation," the foreign ministry said in a statement condemning the move.

Israel's government on Sunday evening approved a plan to double the population of the annexed Golan Heights, just days after its troops seized a UN-monitored buffer zone bordering Syria as rebel forces moved on Damascus.

"This step by Israel is a source of grave concern, taken together with Israel's entry into the area of separation in violation of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, its advance into adjacent areas and airstrikes in Syria," it said, warning the move would "seriously undermine" efforts to bring stability to Syria after Bashar al-Assad's ouster.

The Golan Heights is a mountainous plateau at Syria's southwestern edge, most of which was captured by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin admitted yesterday that the fate of Russian military bases in Syria following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad was still unclear.

The Tartus naval base and Hmeimim air base are Russia's only military outposts outside the former Soviet Union and have been key to the Kremlin's activities in Africa and the Middle East.

The ousting of Moscow's long-time ally Assad in a shock rebel offensive has brought their future into question.

"There are no final decisions on this," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters yesterday.

"We are in contact with representatives of the forces that now control the situation in the country," he added.